B. Foundations of Language · Handwriting, Spelling and Sentences

Parts of Speech: Relative Pronouns and Pronouns as Adjectives

B3.2 B3.1About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can name the eight parts of speech and tell the job each one does in a sentence.
I can use the relative pronouns who, whom, whose, which and that to join ideas.
I can tell when a word like my or this is working as an adjective.
I can use pronouns so my reader always knows who or what I mean.

Words to know

part of speech
The job a word does in a sentence, like naming (noun) or describing (adjective).

pronoun
A word that takes the place of a noun, like she, it, they, mine.

relative pronoun
A pronoun that starts a clause describing a noun: who, whom, whose, which, that.

relative clause
A dependent clause that starts with a relative pronoun and tells more about a noun.

demonstrative
A pointing word: this, that, these, those.

Words have jobs

Every word in a sentence has a job. The name of a word's job is its part of speech. You've met all eight parts of speech in earlier grades. Here they are together:

Part of speech	Its job	Examples
Noun	names a person, place, thing or idea	Grandpa, Halifax, canoe, kindness
Pronoun	takes the place of a noun	I, you, she, it, we, they, mine, who
Verb	shows action or being	paddle, think, is, were
Adjective	describes a noun	cold, three, wooden, my, this
Adverb	describes a verb, adjective or adverb (how, when, where, how much)	quickly, yesterday, outside, very
Preposition	connects a noun to the rest of the sentence	in, under, after, with
Conjunction	joins words or clauses	and, but, or, so, because, when
Interjection	shows sudden feeling	Wow! Oops! Hey,

The eight parts of speech

Job, not word

The same word can do different jobs. I skate every day. (verb) / My skate is untied. (noun). Turn on the light. (noun) / This box is light. (adjective). To find a word's part of speech, look at what it's doing in the sentence.

Worked example

Let's label a sentence

Label each word: Wow! The young beaver swam quickly under the old bridge.

Wow shows sudden feeling: interjection.
beaver and bridge name things: nouns. young and old describe them: adjectives. (The is a special adjective called an article.)
swam is the action: verb. quickly tells how it swam: adverb.
under connects bridge to the rest of the sentence: preposition.

interjection, adjective (article), adjective, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, adjective (article), adjective, noun.

Relative pronouns: joining ideas

A relative pronoun starts a clause that tells more about a noun. It relates (connects) the clause to the noun.

who: for people. The girl who won the race is my cousin.
whom: for people, when they receive the action (you'll see it more in formal writing). The coach, whom everyone respects, gave a speech.
whose: shows ownership. The boy whose dog ran away put up posters.
which: for animals and things. Our canoe, which is very old, still floats.
that: for people, animals or things. The book that I borrowed is due Friday.

The clause that a relative pronoun starts is a relative clause. It's a kind of dependent clause: it can't stand alone.

The relative pronoun who starts a clause that tells more about the noun right before it: girl.

Worked example

Let's join two sentences with a relative pronoun

Join: I have a friend. She speaks Ojibwe and English.

Find the noun the second sentence tells about: friend.
Friend is a person, so use who.
Replace She with who, and put the clause right after friend.

I have a friend who speaks Ojibwe and English.

Keep it close

Put the relative clause right after the noun it describes. The dog chased the ball that was red. (The ball was red.) The dog that was red chased the ball. (Now the dog is red!)

Pronouns that work as adjectives

Some words that belong to the pronoun family can sit in front of a noun and describe it. Then they're working as adjectives.

Possessive words: my, your, his, her, its, our, their. This is my sled. (my tells whose sled)
Pointing words (demonstratives): this, that, these, those. These mittens are warm. (these points to which mittens)
Question words (from Grade 3): which, what, whose. Which toque is yours?

The test: Is there a noun right after the word?

Yes → it's working as an adjective: That toque is mine.
No, it stands alone → it's a pronoun: That is my toque.

The test: is there a noun right after the word? That toque: yes, so it's an adjective. That is mine: no, so it's a pronoun.

Worked example

Let's decide: pronoun or adjective?

What job does the bold word do? (a) This is delicious. (b) This soup is delicious.

(a) Is there a noun right after This? No, it's followed by the verb is. This stands in for the food: pronoun.
(b) Is there a noun right after This? Yes: soup. This tells which soup: it's working as an adjective.

(a) pronoun (b) adjective

Clear pronouns

A pronoun must make it clear who or what it means.

Unclear: Sam told Leo that he won the prize. (Who won? Sam or Leo?)
Clear: Sam told Leo, "You won the prize!" or Sam told Leo that Leo won the prize.

When you reread your writing, check each he, she, it and they. If a reader could be confused, use the noun instead.

Just for fun

What does a regular owl say? "Who! Who!"

What does a grammar owl say? "Whom! Whom!"

Hands-on activity

Parts of speech scavenger hunt

You need: a cereal box, a recipe card or a page from a magazine, and 8 small sticky notes (or scraps of paper).

Label your sticky notes: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection.
Search your text for one example of each. Stick the label next to it (or write the word on the note).
Hunt for relative pronouns (who, which, that, whose). Read the whole relative clause aloud. Which noun does it describe?
Find a possessive or pointing word used as an adjective (our, this, these) and say the noun it describes.
Make up 3 sentences about people in your family using who or whose: My aunt who lives in Sudbury makes the best perogies.

Your turn

What part of speech is the bold word? The puppy barked loudly.

What part of speech? The puppy barked loudly.

Choose who or which: The pilot ______ flew the plane waved to us.

Choose whose or who's: The girl ______ backpack was lost found it in the gym.

Join with that: I found the mitten. I lost it yesterday.

Is those a pronoun or an adjective? Those boots are wet.

Is those a pronoun or an adjective? Are those yours?

More practice: warm-up

What does a noun do?

What does a conjunction do?

Name the five relative pronouns.

Which relative pronoun shows ownership?

Find the possessive word used as an adjective: Our dog loves snow.

More practice: on your own

Fast is a different part of speech in each sentence. Name them: (a) Run fast. (b) She is a fast runner.

Join with whose: I know a boy. His grandmother is an Elder in our community.

Join with which: Our school has a garden. It grows tomatoes and beans.

Fix the unclear pronoun: Mia gave Ava her book.

Label the bold words as pronoun or adjective: This is my favourite song. This song makes me dance.

Challenge

Fix the misplaced relative clause: I gave the treat to the dog that was in my pocket.

Label every word's part of speech: Hey, my sister and I hiked up the steep trail.

Write a sentence about an animal using a relative clause with that or which, and a sentence about a person using who.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What is the part of speech of quietly in The fox crept quietly.?

Which relative pronoun fits? My aunt, ______ is a nurse, works nights.

Which relative pronoun fits? The tree ______ fell in the storm blocked the road.

In Their sleds are fast, what job does Their do?

In which sentence is that a pronoun standing alone?

Which sentence has an unclear pronoun?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: B3.2 asks Grade 4 students to understand the functions of parts of speech in sentences, including relative pronouns and the use of pronouns as adjectives. A word's part of speech depends on its job in the sentence. Relative clauses also build on B3.1 (dependent clauses).

How to help at home:

Use "job talk": "What's this word doing in the sentence?"
When your child writes two short choppy sentences about the same person or thing, suggest joining them with who, which or that.
Ask "Who's he?" when a pronoun in their writing is unclear.

Common difficulties:

who for things (the tree who fell). who is for people; which/that for things and animals.
whose vs who's (from Grade 3): un-squish who's to who is.
whom is used less and less in everyday speech. Children only need to recognize it in Grade 4.
Note: some grammar books call my, your, this, that (before a noun) possessive adjectives or determiners. The Ontario curriculum describes this as pronouns used as adjectives. All mean the same idea.